Articles & Op-Eds

In case you missed it, wanted to be sure you saw yesterday's op-ed by House Democratic Whip Steny H. Hoyer, Senator Orrin Hatch, former Senators Tom Harkin and Bob Dole, and former Representative Steve Bartlett in USA Today on the 25th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilites Act (ADA).

Mitchell Rivard scanned through the House Members' Handbook in 2013, proofreading as he went, when a line gave him pause: Personnel decisions must be free from discrimination based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, and more. Nowhere did it mention sexual orientation or gender identity.

House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) and a few of his Democratic colleagues are urging other members of Congress to include lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender workers in their office anti-discrimination policies.

Across the country, families will come together this week to celebrate the most American of holidays – Thanksgiving. They will give thanks in nearly every language spoken on Earth for the freedoms and opportunities we enjoy as Americans and soon-to-be-Americans. That patchwork of languages is a reflection of the immigrant history of our nation — nearly every family has an immigration story to tell.

Rep. Steny Hoyer (Md.), the second-ranking Democrat in the House, said Republicans should propose a replacement if they don't want to see defense spending cut as a result of across-the-board spending cuts known as sequestration.

Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp told panel members on Monday that he will hold hearings on the hodgepodge of tax provisions known as extenders, tax breaks worth tens of billions of dollars annually.

House Minority Whip Steny H. Hoyer said Monday that lawmakers should set aside any calls for a new “big deal” on budget issues and set their sights on near-term, achievable goals to set a foundation for broader action in the future on fiscal issues.

House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer called on Congress Monday to lay the “groundwork” for a budget “grand bargain,” warning that a failure to do so risks upending the United State’s status as the world’s premier economic power.

As any family or business owner in America can attest, willfully failing to pay bills on time is a recipe for disaster that can precipitate financial ruin. Yet, that is exactly what Congress is on track to do with America’s finances unless it acts right away to avoid a catastrophic default.

On Tuesday, President Obama stood before Congress and the American people to deliver a message of optimism borne from the progress we have made over the past five years recovering our economy from the Great Recession.

Beginning today, millions of Americans — and hundreds of thousands of Marylanders — who could not afford health insurance, or didn't have access to it, will finally be able to sign up for coverage through health marketplaces like the Maryland Health Connection.

In April, the sequester that had flown under the radar for most Americans at last entered the public spotlight. As cuts led to furloughs for air traffic controllers and other FAA personnel, flight delays frustrated passengers across the country.